Iron Hearts
by BlackWolfWanderlust
Summary: He builds iron armours to protect his sanity. She builds iron walls to protect her heart. They both thought they were monsters, and no one had really told them differently. For him, the monster was his mind, the continuous incessant sense of guilt that never stopped. For her, the monster was inside, just under the skin and barely controlled, always at risk of explosion...
1. 0 - PROLOGUE

He builds iron armours to protect his sanity. **  
**She builds iron walls to protect her heart.

They both thought they were monsters,  
and no one had really told them differently.  
For him, the monster was his mind,  
the continuous incessant sense of guilt that never stopped.  
For her, the monster was inside, just under the skin,  
barely controlled, always at risk of explosion.

But who said that monsters couldn't dance together?

 **Hi everyone! This is my first story, I hope you will like it. The events are about two months from Civil War and from here the story will carry on a different path. I am not English, so I apologize in advance for the errors.**

 **PROLOGUE**

" _ **How much is there left in you  
after you have lost everything  
outside of yourself?"  
\- Orison Swett Marden**_

Tony Stark was, without a doubt, a walking coffee addict zombie. It had been already twenty-nine hours and twenty-seven minutes since the last __sleep__ he had. If with sleep you mean barely two hours made of nightmares that wake you up screaming, crushing blankets that feels like snakes trying to suffocate you, and clothes drenched with sweat.

Tony Stark was now, without a doubt, feeling quite irritated. His mind was completely out of his control and was going in directions he certainly didn't want to go, taking his attention away from his last project, already difficult and taxing. The equations that had always been simple for him, now just seemed a mixture of words and numbers, completely impossible to understand with his tired eyes that unfocused every time he blinked.

Tony Stark didn't really want to meet people right now. He selfishly didn't want to see the disapproving gaze of Rhodes from his wheelchair, and he selfishly didn't want to feel the guilt that the friend would bring with him every time they would meet. But even if the soldier had tried to make Tony understand he didn't have to feel at fault, that the life of a military man was dangerous and it was just time before something like that would happen, he couldn't make magically disappear the face full of blame Tony would make every time he glanced at his legs.

Tony didn't want to see Happy. The man would sometimes come to see his friend to try to talk him out of his shell. He didn't want to see him because sometimes he could see his hand automatically snap for a second to his phone, almost as if to call Pepper, to tell her that the strong man they had always known was slowly crumbling down, wasting away in his blame trip. But then he would remember that the couple was on "pause" and hadn't really talked for some time.

And Pepper... God, he missed her. He missed her so much that even breathing was difficult, even swallowing was hard. He missed her perfume, he missed her talking and nagging him, he missed how she was what kept him steady, how her fingers could make him calm down with barely a touch on his head, how with her warm eyes she could just bring his mind back from whatever was troubling him.

Tony Stark didn't want to think of Pepper Pots because now it wasn't the arc reactor that hurt, it was his heart. His heart that every time he thought of her would skip a beat, his breath tightening. It hurt too much to remember the smiles she would give him, the gentle kisses, everything they were, everything they could have been.

It wasn't her fault if they had gone separate ways, only his. It wasn't her fault if he was a mess and so difficult to be with, if his nightmares were slowly taking over every piece of reason he had, if his rage of the injustice for what had happened would sometimes appear so huge that everything seemed to cover under a red fog. Not even Tony would stay with himself if he could.

He really missed New York. He missed the crazy life that it had, the noises, the smells, the crazy people, and he missed his tower.

Tony hated staying at the facility and regretted and hated the day he had decided to come. It was too big and too empty and it smelled like broken promises, bad choices and unsatisfied rage. He felt trapped there, and even if there was nothing physically holding him down, he could feel the chains in his bones. He just wanted everything to disappear. The pain, the memories, to go away just for a few minutes, just so he could breathe again without ache in his ribcage.

He certainly didn't want to see Nick Fury right now. He didn't want to see the eye patch and feel the childish need to take it off. He didn't want to see his long, always black, cape and his demanding hard gaze that had somehow always made him feel like he was being stared into the soul.

So Tony Stark had to blink multiple times at the figure in front of him, trying to decide if he was starting to hallucinate, or if the person in the laboratory in front of him was real.

Maybe he was going insane.

"Stark" greeted Nick Fury, looking at him with hands crossed behind back in a military stand and probably expecting some kind of hello from the other man.

The genius simply stared back. His gaze went down to the scotch, making the ice tinkle as he moved his hand a little, wondering if he had too much of it and immediately frowned. How many drinks did he have? He didn't remember.

"Stark" said with impatience the man again, making his gaze snap on him.

No, Tony decided, the man and his permanent scowl were unfortunately too real to be made by his imagination.

"What" he replied, voice harsh from the alcohol, and he cleared his throat.

"What" Tony said again when he saw the director eyebrows frown, feeling irritation building up. Normally, he would feel more careful around the man who could snap his neck without breaking a sweat, but he was tired and currently didn't want to see any face near his persona.

"You look like hell" replied the man, not raising the voice. He looked at the rumpled clothes, the bear in a severe need of shaving, too pale skin and the big purple circles under bloodshot eyes. Around him, tons and tons holograms and tablets. He didn't make more comments.

"Thanks" replied the man in sarcasm before taking another sip of his burning drink, ignoring the man and returning his vacant gaze to the table. What was he doing before he was interrupted? It just seemed a confusing mess of fluctuating images.

"We need to talk" said the man while coming silently in front of him. He snatched the tablet that was in front of him, earning an indignant shout. When he looked at it, he lifted an eyebrow. It was just a chaos of numbers, letters and symbols and even little stupid drawings that had no sense whatsoever.

"What do you want?" asked Tony in temper. The other man simply lowered the device and calmly looked at him.

"When was the last time you slept?" asked Fury with still the good eyebrow up.

"I don't know, what do you want?" said again Tony, snatching the tablet away from his hands and placing it again on the table, hitting a little harder than he probably should have.

"You need sleep" replied the man again, ignoring his question.

"I sleep just fine, thank you very much" replied the man, sipping again the alcohol "Why are you here Nick? Surely not a pleasure visit, your heart is too cold for that" continued Tony, voice full of sarcasm. The other man rolled his good eye, but didn't reply at the jab. Instead, he started to search in the pocket of his coat while he glared at the genius with the good eye, feeling a bit of satisfaction when Stark squirmed.

"You are not going to shoot me, right?" asked Tony, feeling a little uneasy under the hard stare "It was just a joke, you have a beautiful and kind heart" he added, moving slightly in agitation on the chair.

"Don't be an idiot" replied Fury, finally taking out the piece of paper he was searching and handling it to Stark. The man took it carefully from his hands, as if he expected an attack from it and then looked at the photo.

It was an enlarged photo ID of a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with black hair moving in gentle waves that stopped just above the shoulders and skin so pale that could compete with his. She had a round face with a heart-shaped mouth and golden eyes, completed by heavy bags under them. She would have been a beauty if not for the way she was looking at the camera, slightly ruining the image. She was staring at it coldly, no expression in her doll like face, almost if she wasn't feeling anything the moment it was taken. It was unnerving.

"Isn't she a little too young for you, director?" asked Tony as he returned his gaze on the other man.

"This is serious Stark" replied the man with a touch of annoyance. Tony simply rolled his eyes. Everything about the man was serious, there had never been a trace of joy or happiness in Nick Fury; he had a feeling that the day the man would smile, the world would end.

"Why are you showing me this photo?" asked Tony, rubbing his hand on his face, hoping the conversation wouldn't go the wrong way. He had a feeling that if he was here, with him in the laboratory and not doing the devil only knows what, the director was going to do or say something he truly didn't want to hear. Could the world continue to circle around without troubling him for a day or two or was it too much to ask?

"Her name is Eris Guerra" said Fury "She is going to stay here for a while with you" he added, tone unapologetic as he stared at his tired face.

"I'm sorry" hissed Stark as he felt his headache rise dangerously. He put heavily down the glass and made the scotch splat on the table dangerously close to the devices, but he ignored it, glaring angrily at the other man "But I think I heard you say that she is going to stay here"

"Exactly" simply replied the man, as if there was not a problem with it.

"No" immediately replied Tony, shaking his head. There was no way a stranger was coming here and disturb his alone time. He didn't want to babysit anyone and surely didn't have the patience for it. He wanted peace and silence and solitude. Hell could break loose and unicorns could fly before he would consent.

And now he needed more alcohol.

"I am not asking" said sternly the director "She is in need of a place to stay and I don't trust her with anyone else. I will be away for some time and I can't bring her with me"

"Yeah, still not happening" Tony said as he turned around and quickly rose to his feet. He wanted to go away from the imposing man and what he was asking and forget the entire conversation. He was tired, he was irritated and now he his head was pounding like crazy. He started to get away when the director talked again.

"I owe her" said Fury through his teeth, the mere thought of saying it paining him, and the other man turned his head so quickly that a snap could be heard. Tony looked at him with wide eye and mouth agape.

"You OWE her?" he asked in disbelief "My god, now I need to meet her" he said, glancing at the photo of the cold woman still in his hand and now, with curiosity poked, wondered how the hell did she managed that. No one that he knew had ever slightly managed to call a debt on the reincarnation of satan.

"Good, because she will be here tomorrow at 9 a.m." said the director with a tone that didn't admit discussions. Then he turned, heading with long strides to the door before Stark could even think of a reply, leaving him to blink at the sudden empty space.

"Wait, what? I said no!" immediately shouted Tony at his retreating back when finally the words registered in his mind "Damn Fury!" he yelled in anger, throwing his hands up as he felt all control slipping away as again, things were done without his knowledge or consent and again he was the one to have to feel the consequences. He hated losing control. He hated to be the only one that always had to fix everything.

"Go get some sleep Tony" said the director at the door, glancing one last time at him with some reprimand in his face "You look like shit and I don't want you to do something stupid tomorrow"

Then the man went out the laboratory, vanishing before Tony could even mutter another rejection, leaving him alone to steam off the anger.

He clutched his hands hard, feeling the nails dig into the flesh before he finally softened them, easing the angry breath.

After a few minutes of looking at the empty door he sat down heavily, making the chair crack loudly. He massaged his heavy eyes and temples, trying to easy the tension that never wanted to go away these days. There was really no point in being mad. He didn't even have the energies, or the will, to do so.

Feeling drained from the small conversation and the aggravating man, he simply returned with slow motions to the project, letting holograms and lights burn a little more his eyes, trying to come out with some idea. Everything remained unchanged for hours.

Maybe it was a good idea the girl was coming here in the end. There was an urgent need of distraction.

For now, he had scotch and coffee.


	2. 1 - OF COFFEE AND PIZZA

**CHAPTER 1**

 **OF COFFEE AND PIZZA**

" _ **We are all books containing  
thousands of pages  
and within each of them  
lies an irreparable truth."**_

― _**The animus, 'Assassin's Creed'**_

Nick Fury was talking to her about something, his deep voice echoing inside the car, but she wasn't listening at all, his words completely turned into a background noise.

Eris was, instead, looking at a S.H.I.E.L.D. report of the man she would have to spend some time from now on. The photo, snapped on some elegant event, showed a man that when she was younger, she had seen quite often on the media. He was sporting a huge shit-eating grin towards a red-head woman who was giving her bare back at the camera. She was dressed in a beautiful and fancy blue dress with high heels, and was, without a doubt, Pepper Pots, the new CEO of Stark Industries.

He was a handsome man, in his early forties, not much taller than the woman, with tan skin and dark hair perfectly styled. His beard was also clean cut and there were little wrinkles near the eyes from the white smile that barely showed his age. He was wearing a beautiful dark suit that had to be costed a small fortune and seemed to be tailored, hugging his lean but quite muscular body superbly. In the centre of his chest, under his clothes, a small circle of blue light could be seen shining.

Her eyes shot a little under the picture where there were his behavioural evaluation.

 _TONY STARK_

 _Displays compulsive behaviour, PTSD, prone to_ _self-destructive tendencies, Narcissism, difficulty to follow orders,_ _suffer from insomnia._

Under that, all that had happened to him, the incidents, his kidnapping, the operation and a bunch of other things that really didn't interest her, making her hazel eyes shot again to the picture and the words just behind them.

His evaluation was probably just a little lighter than hers.

"Eris, are you listening?" asked for the second time Fury when he noticed that the girl was not, in fact, listening to a word.

Eris lifted her eyes to look at the road, rudely throwing the papers in the seats behind, making them scatter everywhere. She crossed her arms and looked outside the window where the trees were passing in a blur of green. She heard a deep sigh of frustration from the man on her left, but she didn't care. She wasn't in the mood of listening to his patronizing words, and she didn't care if she was being childish.

This was not something she had agreed to do, and he had done it without her knowledge.

"Just listen for a second" said Fury, his eye not leaving the road "Stark is an irritating man, and right now doesn't want you there, or anyone else for the matter. Still, he is a curious person and will probably try to ask or know something more about you. Just try to ignore him and you will be both fine".

Eris snorted at this, knowing well that the man in question would never comply to that order. She was sure he would find immense joy in annoying her with questions. He seemed the type that would incessantly talk, and talk, and talk about things, and nag to know more if something didn't appear immediately clear to him.

She really didn't have the patience to deal with that type of people right now. Or people in general.

"Don't kill him, he may not be in his best moods lately, but he is extremely important to S.H.I.E.L.D." added Fury. He looked with his good eye at the figure next him, expecting some nodding. The girl didn't move her head in understanding like she always did, showing that she was really unhappy over the development of things.

Eris looked for a second at the little screen on the car that showed the hour, 7:22 in the morning, and huffed in irritation. Nick had said that they would have been there at 9 a.m., but he had woken her up more than an hour early, not knowing that she had just managed to fall asleep after looking at the ceiling for what seemed years, her insomnia kicking her in the ass.

Now she was cranky as hell, tired and utterly annoyed to be left like some sort of package at the front door of a person she didn't know, or trust. When the day before he had told her that he would have to go for some time, he cleverly didn't add until morning that he leave her with Tony Stark of all people. From the rest of the ride, until ten minutes prior when he had handled her the S.H.I.E.L.D. report, she had simply glared down, never talking, just drawing, ignoring the man and letting the pencil run with angry maniacal movements, almost tearing apart the paper.

Eris wanted peace, she wanted quiet, and he had decided to left her with the possibly most noisy person in the world. She remembered that years ago the tabloids always talked of the crazy parties the eccentric man would often throw, she had frequently seen his interviews and how he always seemed sarcastic, with the bad habit of flirting shamelessly with every cute journalist.

Now he was thankfully staying under the radar, after the incident with Ultron and successfully the disappearing of the Avengers, Tony Stark had basically vanished from the news entirely, not that the journalist didn't search of stories to tell, usually inventing them.

Still, Eris knew he was an extremely intelligent man, and intelligent people always wanted to find why some puzzles couldn't be complete, sometimes not understanding that some pieces had just been lost along the way.

She didn't have the faintest idea of why Fury had decided to take her away from the small secure apartment she had occupied for the last five months, watching trash TV, eating trash food and drawing. He had simply said that he was going away, that he couldn't watch over her for some time, and that he had had the big idiotic idea to bring her to a person he thought could help her stay away from troubles.

What he had never understood, was that even if Eris wanted to stay far far away from them, didn't even want them, troubles always managed to find her in a way or another. It didn't matter where she was or what she was doing, something would always screw up at some point. And it had already passed too much time from the last one.

It was also extremely sure that the mere presence of Tony Stark would only bring problems, chaos and stress. Eris really didn't dwell well with stressful situations.

Soon, before she could even think of jumping out of the car and send to hell Fury and his moronic ideas, they had arrived at the New Avengers Facility. They quickly passed some gates without stopping the car at the check-in, the face of Fury enough to make him go without showing any ID, and arrived in front of a big structure where agents passed running here and there shouting things, or walking fast with dark uniforms and big scowls.

She ignored their curious glance when she stepped outside, knowing she stood out with her quite rugged and, in some places, broken clothes. They immediately scurred away when the dark gaze of the director paused on their figures. She followed him silently with just a ripped bag on her shoulder with her few important belongings, the last things she had of her previous life.

They walked fast around the building until they arrived to a more secluded area, where no people could be seen around. He stopped in front of a door and paused, hearing a blasting music from behind it. Then, without hesitation, Fury ripped open the door, not bothering to knock, and throwing it hard against the ceiling behind with a loud thump. The person inside jumped at the sudden interruption, and the music immediately stopped. The man turned around, probably to glare hard at the director, but his eyes were strangely obscured by dark sunglasses. He had slipped some coffee on the table.

"Some warning next time would be appreciated" snapped the man in a rough voice, almost if he had a cold. He grabbed a towel to clean the mess and then grabbed all the paper scattered around, piling them messily on a side.

For a moment Eris didn't recognize him. He hardly resembled the happy person on the photo. He looked tired, even sick from how pale he was, and thinner. His hair were pointing in every direction, like he had passed his hands on them countless times, his beard needed to be shaved and his once white t-shirt was stained with what seemed oil, likely from some work. He had still not noticed the other person behind Fury.

"I don't have time for pleasantries" replied the black man with a tone that didn't admit discussions "I told you to get some sleep" he added as he also took in the dishevelled figure.

Eris glanced around the room. It was simple: a small functional but surely expensive kitchen, some armchairs and a coach on a side, and a big glass table with at last ten seats on it. Hanging from the ceiling, a television put on mute with the faces of the Avengers and a man talking behind them. There was a headline on top with written: 'WHERE ARE THEY?'. On the table, tons of papers, a tablet, a cup of coffee and a bottle of some alcohol almost empty. She was quite sure the coffee was a little spiked.

"And I told you that I sleep just fine" he replied, then his eyes finally landed on the small woman who was looking around with a calculating gaze "You are here early" he added.

"I need to go away sooner than expected. Stark, this is Eris Guerra" he said, pushing a little the woman forward, making her glare at him for a second at him before reversing in an expressionless face "And take those glasses off"

"No, thank you. I quite like them" replied Tony as he came towards, handling her his hand, at last trying to be a little polite to her "I guess we will spend some time together" he said to her in a casual tone, then flashed her the whitest grin she ever saw.

She simply stared back without showing any emotion, looking into his dark sunglasses, catching a little glimpse of his tired empty eyes. Eyes just like hers. A light bulb lit up in her mind as she realized why Fury had brought her here. He wanted her to fix him. To help him bring back Stark from whatever was bothering him. He wanted her to fix the smartest person in the world.

Fury had lost his mind, she was sure. He was going nuts with his age.

Eris didn't reply. She knew that even if he was trying to be civil, he didn't want her here as much as she didn't. She could see it in the fake but perfect smile he had thrown her that was now slowly falling, changing into a frown when she didn't replicate the action.

After another moment of hesitation, he brought his hand back at his side, looking a little uncertainly at the man with the eyepatch.

Eris simply walked away without a word, passing near him and bumping a little on his shoulder, feeling his hard stare follow her. She took position in front of a giant window, putting down the bag on the ground with a big noise that resonated on the silent room, a mark of her irritation, and sat next to it. She took outside her drawing book, immediately starting to draw with a small used and crippled pencil.

She was absolutely horrible at it, it seemed more like a child drawing than an adult, but it calmed her. It was soothing the rumour of the paper being worked and not having to think of anything else than sketching.

She heard Stark open the mouth, probably to tell her something about her rude attitude, but was thankfully interrupted by the director.

"She doesn't speak much" he informed Tony, taking his attention away from the young woman "She will stay out of your way and you will stay out of her"

"Yes, dad" replied sarcastically Stark, and she almost felt him rolling his eyes.

"I am serious Stark, leave her alone" he continued, still looking at the genius with a reproaching look "Here" he said, handling the man an object "These are to use only in extreme cases"

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Tony glance down dumbfound at the three syringes that contained a dark bluish liquid inside. He took off his glasses to look at them better, wincing a little at the bright lights of the early morning. His eyes were bloodshot and on top of bruises bags, and they held just a little spark of curiosity as he looked down at his hand.

"For me? I hate to inform you that I still haven't gone in the druggie phase" he said, looking quite contrite at Fury.

"For her" replied the director, indicating Eris with a nod "In case you make her lose control, you give her one of these to calm her"

"Lose control?" he asked, now his curiosity definitely picked up. He glanced with an elegant eyebrow up from the dark man to Eris who was now looking at them with an empty stare. She didn't really care of what he thought, she just wished she wouldn't become his next little source of entrainment in figuring her out. From the look he was sporting, there were little chances of that.

"Yes, listen I have to go" said Fury, glancing at his clock "You" he said in a strict tone indicating with a finger his chest "Don't bother her"

"Me? I would never" replied Stark, making an angelic face and lifting up his hands with still the syringes on, in a mock surrender that didn't convince anyone.

"Eris, don't kill him, we need his brain" he said then, ignoring Tony and talking to the girl without looking in her direction.

She ignored him and returned her attention to the book. Eris had never been good with goodbyes, she hated them from the bottom of her heart. She didn't want to see him go, she didn't want to say goodbye to the only source of normality she had, well, if the hard man could even be considered normal.

"I will see you hopefully in a month or two" he said and turned, leaving without muttering another word of departure before the genius could even shout something in indignation or ask some questions. Clearly, from the face of shock he was sporting, he hadn't been told for how much she would stay there.

Neither she.

The door closed with another loud thump just as he had entered, leaving the two people on an uncomfortable silence.

Seconds passed without Stark speaking and still looking at the door as if it had done something unimaginably cruel, the quiet only interrupted by the sound of her pencil sketching and the distant ticking sound of a clock. Eris heard him sigh and pass a hand through his air as he probably decided to what do with her.

"Friday?" he finally spoke out loud, voice heavy with tiredness.

" _Yes, sir?_ " a feminine voice replied immediately.

Eris snapped up her head and looked around in search of the source, her heart spiked up in fright as her hand immediately ready to form a ball of energy in her hand, the papers almost falling down for the sudden move. Fortunately, before she could do something irreparable, she realized the voice belonged only to the A.I. Fury had talked in the car, and relaxed her ready to jump muscles. There was no one else in the room besides them. She was certain that if she blew the room up on the first five minutes of her being here, the director would have strangled her. Or at least tried to.

"You show the lady her room, I am going to the laboratory" he said, already starting to retreat and not noticing her actions. He didn't mutter another word to Eris, not even glanced at her from, as if ignoring her presence would make her disappear and dragged himself out.

"Sure boss" replied the voice back from the ceiling as Stark disappeared.

Eris returned to her relaxed pose, retaking her pencil that had fallen down.

"When you are ready miss" said than the voice to her.

She ignored it and continued her work that consisted in a horrible drawing of Fury barking orders and his head fuming.

Yes, she was aware of how childish it was.

Eris didn't move for hours, always sketching or glancing out the window, sometimes stopping on her reflection in the glass, but there really wasn't much to see, only empty eyes and a cold face. Not much passed on these days on it, maybe some irritation sometimes.

Now her heart were just made of emptiness and anger and if she was right, and she was usually, and Nick wanted her to help him, he didn't know what he was asking.

It like using a bomb to stop another bigger bomb. An explosion would be unavoidable and someone was bound to get hurt.

She couldn't even fix herself, what could she do for someone else?

She felt her stomach grumble and just wished for some pizza.

At least the view was beautiful.


	3. 2 - OF BROKEN PAGES

**CHAPTER 2**

 **OF BROKEN PAGES**

" _ **Forests have secrets – he said gently.  
It's practically what they're for.  
To hide things.  
To separate one world from another."**_

― **Catherynne M. Valente**

It was safe to say that Eris had completely taken possession of one of the bedroom not indicated by Friday. She had just chosen the one she liked more, not knowing to whom it belonged, and quite not caring about it, and had placed her bag there, ignoring the fact that the A.I. had said multiple times Stark wouldn't be happy.

She didn't care in the slightest.

Eris had gone without shame in the closet to rummage some clothes, finding they quite fitted her, even if they were a size more than hers. She didn't complain. If she had to stay here for a while, at least she could have some comforts.

At first, she had half expected the man to bargain one day and demand her to exit the room that clearly belonged to another woman. She also expected the man to be offended on her for using the clothes of said person.

However, Eris had barely seen the genius around. Even if she passed all her time attached to the window to draw, only going to the bedroom to take some showers or change, Stark remained, for the most part, a ghost. She was perfectly fine in being left alone, plus the only times he would grace her with his presence were the ones in which he would come in the kitchen to grab something to eat or prepare some coffee. He would cast her a curious but blank glance, and then disappear once again into his cave, doing whatever was thankfully keeping him busy.

Stark looked worse day by day. It had been already a week since she had been brought there, and she thought that the definition of walking dead could be perfectly used to describe them. He had shaved his beard a little some days before, but now it was growing again, making him resemble almost a homeless man, completed with eyes of a drugged person with a touch of coffee craziness. His clothes at last changed every day, but always remained stained with new different spots of oil.

Like him, Eris could really use a little bit of sleep and a little less of jumpiness. Being thrown into a place she didn't know was not healthy for her broken and easy to fright mind. She always felt on edge, always ready to fight some unknown force, and the big in open spaces didn't really help her. If Fury had expected them to benefit from each other company, or to _talk_ , he was surely mistaken. They were both just wasting away in that place, and even if it was big, with a lot of space to go around, still felt, in a way, like a self-imposed prison.

As days passed Eris started almost to feel sorry for Stark. She had seen his empty eyes, she knew what had happened to him, everything that at last had been written in the S.H.I.E.L.D. report. She could see in his face that he had tried hard to do things better and learn from his mistakes, but nothing in the end had changed for him. And in a way she could see herself a little into his brown eyes, because it didn't matter how much they both had tried, how much they had both had given and suffered, it had never really mattered. The world had been and always would be a cruel place, and not matter how much you fight, sometimes there is nothing else to do than crumble.

And Eris also envied him a little because at last he still had the chance to get up one day on his feet, to be a better version of himself. He could still continue to invent things and he could maybe save the world again in some of his heroic actions. In the end, for him, there was still a possibility of a better life if he wanted, if he decided to go out of his laboratory for more than coffee.

And Eris? Eris was just stuck with something that could never go away, no matter how much she wanted. She was stuck with something that felt like was slowly taking away her energies every single minute of her life, from the day she had lost everything.

It was always there, always lingering under her fingers, under every movement she did, in every breath she took. When she had been in her home, she had been thankfully able to control her powers almost all the time. And even if sometimes they slipped and something would break, no one had been hurt because no one had been there to witness them as she had always been alone for the last seven months, Fury the only person she saw.

So she couldn't really understand the intentions of the dark man.

It was dangerous, she was dangerous. He had put her into a place that made all her nerve frizzle every second and one day she would eventually snap and hurt an innocent, like Stark, or a multitude as the place swarmed with agents. It was like a ticking bomb where you don't know where the countdown is, but you certainly know it's gonna blow up in your face.

Eris knew deep down that, in a logical sense, putting her with Iron Man could buy some time for other people in case she would go ballistic, but her irrational didn't really understand. He knew she barely controlled them, and he still left her there the same. Eris had always trusted Fury opinions for all the time she had known him, and she really couldn't comprehend his sudden disposal of her. The idea that she was someone to be used for something once more, hurt her already shattered heart more than she could think, more than she was willing to admit.

Her hand suddenly gripped tighter the pencil and made a movement with too much force, causing the paper to rip in two pieces with a loud noise.

Eris closed her eyes as she felt anger starting to build into her stomach, increasing her heartbeat for the injustice of all that had happened to her. But when life had ever treated her with fairness?

She clenched her hands more strongly and felt her nails dig into the flesh, almost breaking it. She had to calm down. There was no point in thinking of that. If she thought of Fury leaving than she had to think of the past, and she didn't want to go there and have a flashback, followed by a panic attack, and then some explosions. Now it wasn't nor the time or the place, she couldn't burn down the entire facility just because her mind couldn't shut the hell up.

Eris took slowly breaths, eyes closed as she felt the power linger in her clutching fingers, begging to be left out, only for a little. She knew Friday was watching and monitoring her, and therefore also Stark. She really didn't want his curious eyes to land on her today, and she didn't want to hear his voice ask questions.

When finally the beats didn't resonate more in her ears, after what had to be minutes and when she felt that she wouldn't lose control soon and fry everything, she got up and hasty headed to the kitchen. She needed something cool to drink.

The fridge didn't have really much to offer, only some beverage and some sandwich already prepared by whoever refilled it.

She took out one and a cola, placed them on the table and headed to her temporary bedroom, hoping to find some more papers to distract her mind, the one she had broken was the last one she had.

The bedrooms weren't exactly near the kitchen, but a little away. They weren't big, but still held every comfort a person would need, with televisions and bathrooms in each, and closets that contained more dresses she could count.

Eris opened various drawers, finding some t-shirts and a curious amount of scarves, all in a different shade of the colour of blood. The girl really loved red. She personally hated it.

She ventured in a night-stand near the bed and finally found what she was searching. There were a few incomprehensible words in another language, but for the most part, the papers had been left untouched. Eris grabbed all of them and quickly pulled them out, adding some pencils and a rubber she saw in the back. There was always a need for a spare one.

When she got up however, something fell out the papers and landed in front of her feet, stopping her in her tracks. Curiously she kneeled down and picked it up, revealing an old photo of a couple of teenagers holding hands. They were staying near each other, almost as if afraid to be separate. They were dressed in rugged clothes and were watching at the camera with hateful deep brown eyes. She recognized the younger girl as Wanda Maximoff, having seen her multiple times in the news.

A painful pang shot into her heart as she saw the similarities between the two. They had to be brother and sister, maybe even twins, and they seemed close, just like she had been with hers.

As fast as lightning she rose from her positions and shoved the photo back where it belonged, making the wood almost crack for the force which it was close.

Eris closed her eyes as she felt pressure behind, heartbeat worrisomely increasing again. She needed to stay calm. She needed to focus on drawing and on nothing else.

She opened her eyes and with hurried steps left the bedroom and went back to her window, forgetting the sandwich and the drink. In that moment she knew she wouldn't get back soon in the room.

Eris definitely hated staying here now. She wanted to go back to her home where everything was quiet, there were too many things in this place. Everything was too much.

She just wanted to forget.

…

"Boss" said Friday as she closed the music, cutting off also his partially concentration for the second time in a short time.

"What?" he asked reluctantly, coming out from under the car he had been working for the last, well probably more than twelve hours. Walking on cars had always been his way of calming down, and he really needed to do something else except working his project, or he would go crazy in trying to find a solution. For now, he was stuck at the same point of a week ago.

"Miss Guerra heartbeat has increased again" replied Friday sounding a little worried "And her temperature has also slightly risen"

Stark frowned. It was the second time in about ten minutes. The first time it had just spiked for a few seconds before returning normal, and he didn't really think nothing of it when the A.I. told him, but again? He hoped she wasn't going bat-shit crazy right now. He didn't really have the heart to poke her with one of the syringes Fury had given him. He had examined just a little drop and found that they contained such a high dose of various sedatives that could have sedated at least ten elephants each, and he was pretty sure that injecting a person with one would have given them a free ticket to the world of the dead.

"Where is she now?" he asked, wiping his hands clean with an old rag.

"Miss Guerra was on her room but now she has gone again at the window to draw" replied the A.I. and opened on a screen the video of the security camera.

The woman was there, blank face as always and sketching in her book. While her face betrayed nothing, her erratic hands made clear that she had something going on in the head that was disturbing her.

Tony looked at the papers and thought of the time he had caught a glimpse, in one of the few runs to grab something to eat and more coffee. She had been there like always, sat near the big window and was drawing a horrible representation on Fury doing something he never wanted to see the scary man do. It was for sure not a piece of art and it had been childish, something he thought the woman wasn't capable of doing. He simply guessed that is had to be soothing for her, just like fixing cars was for him.

Tony was kind of relieved though. He thought she was going to be a problem, that she would have been curious and would have gone snooping around and poking things, but since the day the two had meet, she had barely moved from her station, never expressing emotions and always focusing on her book.

She always wore that expression that kind of made his skin crawl, always cold and untouched. The only trace of humanity he had ever sawn on it had been a flicker of irritation for the director when he had brought her to the facility, and a little trace of anger when she had stormed to her favourite position, ignoring him. Since then, nothing. Sometimes he wondered if had imagined them and if she was a robot. He hoped not, he didn't want another Ultron running around.

Still, he couldn't exactly blame her for being the way she was. He had read the report Fury had sent him just minutes after rending himself scarce, probably because he didn't want to handle her report in front of her face, and he felt some kind of pity for the way the world had treated her and for what it had taken away.

But she remained dangerous, probably more dangerous than everyone thought, because no one really knew the potentiality of her powers, not even the super spy and probably not even her. And he had watched her a few times, curiosity almost getting the best of him and asking her questions, but he stopped himself just in time, just when the words were about to leave his mouth. The young woman didn't talk. He never heard even a sound exit from her lips.

Stark wasn't really sure if she couldn't physically do so, from the scan that had been done on her the moment she was under S.H.I.E.L.D. had showed no injury on her throat, so he deduced that she probably just didn't want to talk much.

Tony thought it was kind funny when Friday had told him, sounding a little indignant, that the woman had ignored the chosen guest bedroom for her. He was kind of hoping she would have gone for Natasha's one, knowing the assassin would have gone crazy had she to found out that, but she had thankfully chosen the one of Wanda. He wasn't sure if Romanoff would have been lenient.

However, her not talking or communicating in any way could become a problem for him. Maybe she would need something, or he had to ask her some questions that really needed to be answered somehow. And if some catastrophe would happen, and at a certain point it will happen because it never passed much time between one and another, he needed to be able to know where she was, and what to do with her.

Tony rubbed his face in exhaustion with his hands and then ruffled his hair, grimacing when he felt grease. He needed a long shower, and then he needed to sleep. He had been up again for too much, he didn't even know how much this time, and didn't even want to ask Friday.

He snorted, yeah sleep. It was easier to calm down the Hulk than to have a peaceful night of sleep.

Thinking of Hulk, he really missed Bruce. He missed the calmness the man could bring everywhere he went, and how he could understand the way he thought. Tony knew he wasn't dead, there was few little chances in that, and he hoped he would resurface soon and talk to him. He could always somehow understand what he was feeling, probably more than anyone else, and right now he really needed someone to confess his sin to.

Rhodey was a good friend, always had been, but he was a soldier and lived a soldier life. Tony never had the mental training he had, and now that he had to see every time the consequences of his actions, he didn't feel like bother him with his problems.

"Call me if anything change again" he said to Friday as he headed to the door of the laboratory "And continue with the combinations, we will find something in the end"

"Sure thing, boss" replied immediately the A.I.

Tony took off then and headed straight ahead to his room, the bed was suddenly calling him. He was exhausted. He just hoped that this time there were no nightmares to torment him and that only sweet blackness was awaiting him.

Like always, a lie to himself.


	4. 3 - OF APPLE JUICE AND EXPENSIVE TABLETS

**CHAPTER 3**

 **OF APPLE JUICE AND EXPENSIVE TABLETS  
**

 _ **E** **ndure,  
endure,  
and the syllables harden  
like stoic sheets struck  
with rigor mortis  
on the clothesline  
of winter.**_

 _ **–**_ **Sylvia Plath**

Meeting one of Stark's friend was inevitable at some point, and she thought it would have happened in a normal way, as normal as she could get from the genius' friendships. Eris would have seen them, they would probably said hello awkwardly at her stony face and maybe, maybe, she would have nodded back in greeting had she been in a good mood.

And really, it had started like a good day.

She had slept well for the first time in months, feeling quite rested after ages of nightmares, not as jumpy as usual and not with the feeling something was going to explode near her.

She had already planned her morning watching some movies or series she was falling behind, hoping that if Stark had never bothered her for anything, he wouldn't appear just to tell her to get off his expensive television. And maybe later in the day, if she felt like it, she could go to search for the gym she was sure was around their reserved building, as it was basically impossible the Avengers didn't work out.

So today had really started as a good day.

Eris had opened her eyes and hadn't felt the obsessive need to draw that had been a constant companion since she had arrived. She hadn't felt the fingers twitch in agitation begging to trace lines and shadows, and hadn't felt the need to fill page after page with stupid and useless doodles. After god only knows how many months, she felt a bit calm and somehow peaceful. Maybe it was because no one had really bothered her in any way, unlike the persistent nagging feeling everything was going into shit every time Fury visited her with his usual scowl, asking questions above questions she never answered.

It was a good day and Eris truly didn't expect something would go wrong. For certain, she didn't think that her hair would become crime victims of sticky apple juice. That was something of which she didn't think would have happened in her quiet and lonely morning.

Eris knew that people, the rare times she would put her nose out in the outdoor, would sometimes think of her as… standoffish. Even as younger and not bothered by the heaviness of her past, people in general would stay out of her way. She faulted her always blank look, the kind of brooding presence and usually dark clothes. However, throwing at her their drinks in fright was totally a new experience to her.

It wasn't exactly his fault, the big Caucasian man with a bit of belly and dressed in a fancy suit had been with his head deep into the fridge, in his left hand a big glass full of the liquid protruding precariously with every movement he did. She had thought he had heard her as she went near to also grab something to eat, completely forgetting how quiet her steps could be, and he had been too engrossed into his important search to notice the other person in the room, behind him.

In a comic sequence she had tapped his shoulder to gain his attention because he was in her way, to which he replied by yelping, hitting hard his head on a fridge shelf and making everything rattle dangerously. He then turned fast, making the juice from his glass splash on everything and, obviously, on her hair as she was way smaller than him, barely reaching his shoulders.

So here she was, staring back at the man who was silently gaping down in what could only be describes as comical shock. He had been so lucky Eris had been just a little surprised by the action and hadn't thought of an attack, or there would be no more big wide eyes and open mouth and the kitchen would have had another colour. Eris was sure Stark wouldn't be happy with the new design.

After what seemed a solid minute of staring, Eris lifted an eyebrow at him, finally making him snap out the self-induced trance. He immediately began to spurt apologizes, face red for the embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry Ma'am" he said regretful as he quickly turned around, in search of a towel. He grabbed the nearest and handled it to her "I didn't hear you coming"

She grabbed the offered orange towel and put it into her hair, trying to take off some of the sticky substance as he waited for a reply that wouldn't come any time soon.

"Ma'am?" he asked, a frown on his face.

Eris ignored him, her eyes passing quickly on his gelled brown hair before going to the fridge, to search for some milk. It was already eleven in the morning, but she still needed to have breakfast, and milk and some Pop-Tarts she had found some days before seemed a good way to continue her now ruined day. She saw from the corner of her eyes the man fidgeting on his place, the frown deepening on his face.

"Are you the new cook?" he asked, and his eyes followed up down her small figure and definitely borrowed bigger male clothes, coming to the conclusion she didn't resemble one. He took a step towards as she turned her head to look better at him, not appreciating the closeness and casting a warning glare, the hand grasping hard the fridge handle.

Her patience was thinning.

"You don't have the badge" he said, narrowing his eyes at her, as if accusing her of something she didn't know "Who are you and why are you here?" he then asked, voice hard and losing all trace of sorriness from before. She saw his hand go to his back as his body tensed, ready for any sort of threatening move from her.

Vaguely, in some distant part of her mind, Eris remembered that this man had to be, or had been, Stark's bodyguard, and that if he was here that he had some sort of permission and was only doing his job. Eris, however, couldn't care less. She had been coped in this place for weeks, and if the man hadn't been notified of her presence, it wasn't her fault. She had been feeling peacefull until he arrived here, and if he even thought of attacking her, then she wouldn't hold back. She would never hold back any more from a fight.

And now, she thought bitterly, all the remaining little pieces of peace in her heart had shattered, and instead of calm, irritation had begun to flow in the veins alarmingly.

She had never been good with patience. She had never been good with people.

She snapped close the door hard, making the little bottle inside clang again and turned her whole body to look openly at the man, showing her complete displeasure with the situation with a dangerous expression, and how much he was walking on thin ice. If anything, he seemed even more alarmed than before, and even more than ready to attack her at the first wrong movement.

"Miss Guerra is a guest" intervened luckily Friday, probably sensing her heartbeat increase and saving the man from having his intestine used to strangle him.

Eris saw the taller man open his mouth in surprise, turning his eyes a few times from the small young woman to the ceiling. Slowly, he shifted his look from hard guarding dog to slight interested, visibly calming down. He eased his muscles in a more relaxed position and removed his hand from what she was sure was a gun on his back, probably wondering why someone like her would be a guest in the Avengers Facility.

Then, as if the juice in her hair wasn't enough, Eris heard steps and saw the indistinguishable figure of the genius coming their way, walking in a lazy way and sporting a huge eat-shit grin on his face that transformed his pale and usually tired face into something just a little lighter. He was dressed in filthy clothes, full of dark spots and oil all over his face, but he at least looked quite happy to see the man next to her.

"Happy!" he shouted excited. He walked around her, sporting a big happy grin and clapped hard the shoulder of the taller man who simply smiled back uncomfortably.

"Hi Tony" replied back, glancing quickly between the duo.

"I see you have met sunshine here" said Stark, indicating the young woman who was watching the couple with cold eyes "And I see you have welcomed her beautifully" he added as he saw the towel still in her hands and her hair wet.

"New fashion?" he asked at her with a smirk, walking also to the fridge and taking out a coke. He leaned casually on the counter, grinning at her. Eris narrowed her eyes in warning, but he simply replied by grinning wider, showing even more his white and perfect teeth.

She felt her hand twitch around the towel and decided that it would be best if she retired to her room and watch something there on the smaller tv in the bedroom. She had no more taken residence in the room with the photograph, but had decided to go for another one. The one in which she was currently staying clearly belonged to a man, really tall and with big clothes. He seemed to have simple tastes, with simple the spartan furniture and quite a hard bed, and with a kin passion to draw just like her. He was way better than she could ever be, expecially on drawing portraits, and he had a lot of pencils and papers around that had saved her from asking more to Stark.

Eris turned on her heals, completely ignoring the men who were now both looking at her, one with suicidal amusement, and the other with fitting worry, and made move to leave.

"Wait!" shouted Stark at her.

For a split of moment she considered ignoring the irritating man, just to spite him, knowing that ignoring him would probably aggravate him, but in the end she turned her head to see why he had finally decided to bother to her after weeks of self-imposed silence.

Stark walked to her the few metres she had managed to take, and handled her something with a big expectant smile. She didn't take immediately it, only stared back into his eyes with an empty stare.

"For you, take it" he said, almost putting it into on her arms. Eris grabbed what seemed to be a tablet cautiously, as if she it would explode any second. Knowing the man had a liking to invent strange things, and usually hearing various explosions from his laboratory, she almost expected it.

"It's just a tablet" said Stark, smirking at her "It's not gonna eat you"

Yes, it might, Eris thought as she looked at the really expensive piece of technology.

It had the Stark logo on it and she didn't doubt for a second it was something that couldn't break easily. Stark was, and she hated to admit it, one that never joked with creations, and never made something that would shatter at the first fall.

"It's directly linked to Friday and to me, so whatever you need, you can just write on it" he added, indicating the black screen "It also has various programs if you find yourself tired of drawing"

Eris looked up and down, from the object in her hands to his face. He looked more tired than ever, completely worn out from whatever was eating him, with circles under his eyes that looked more like tattoos. His brown eyes, even if tilted for the smile, didn't hold the spark that she had seen on some videos time ago, where he always smiled happily, and drunkly, and had a different gorgeous woman under his arm every night. Now they just were like hers, empty, lonely and above everything, tired of all the shits always happening.

Eris didn't bother reply to the man, he already knew she wouldn't, so she just turned on her heels and slowly walked away from the men's stare. She heard the other one mutter something that sounded like 'strange one' but she didn't care. She went to her room and closed the door behind her, ignoring the loud laugh resonating in the too big empty building.

She closed it a little too hard behind her, but she didn't pay any mind to it. She was too busy looking at the expensive tablet on her hands as if it was going to eat her.

It had been kind of him to give her one, unexpectedly so as he had basically ignored her since day one except for giving her a few curious glances here and there. It was almost strange for her to receive something just out of hearts from someone else that wasn't Fury, but then again, Fury would just give her moneys or things to keep her alive with decency.

Stark didn't need to do it. He had no reason to gain anything in giving her the tablet, well maybe he could watch what she searched on it, but Eris has the feeling he wouldn't breach that kind of privacy.

She sat on the bed and opened it. Immediately various links of games and even applications to learn to draw popped on the front. She looked around and found also apps for music, movies, obviously Internet and for almost all things one could do with a tablet and much more. He had overdone it.

On the contact there were just two links, one under the name of Friday and one to Stark.

Eris touched that one, opening a white empty chat. She battled for a few seconds with herself, one hand going to the sticky hair as she contemplated what to write.

In the end she settled for a 'thank you'. She closed it quickly, not even wanting to see if he was going to reply any time soon and headed to the bathroom to take a shower, bringing a set of clothes with her.

When she returned, after drying her hair, she was a bit surprised to see he had replied.

'You're welcome'

It was simple, it wasn't sarcastic, and it was so not like him.

In the end Eris just decided he was strange and just didn't have the patience to consider more his motives, she already had enough problems in her mind to even bother with others, so she just decided to search for some movie to see.

She completely forgot she still had to eat breakfast.


End file.
